Customer Service

Make events special with thoughtful planning

One day your boss walks into your office to tell you about the exciting idea the board of directors came up with: to hold a grand special event. This extravaganza needs to incorporate customers, investors, board members, staff members and their families, vendors and potential customers.

The details haven’t been finalized, but the most exciting part is this: you get to spearhead the committee to get it done! Unless you are one of those rare individuals who actually gets psyched about picking a theme, choosing colors, managing a group of unmotivated co-workers and generally putting your butt on the line for your boss to evaluate in all its glory, your panic attack commences. It may be called a special event, but planning it just isn’t that special.

I always thought I was one of those rare people – that is, until I met some of the women with whom I work. They take it to the next level. No detail gets overlooked as they take an event from ho-hum to smokin,’ which affords me a great little opportunity to do some shameless self-promotion. If your boss has recently dropped a similar bombshell in your lap, call us to take care of it for you. We’ll make sure the event is wonderful, and you look like the star!

However, in case you’re set on doing it yourself, here is a game plan to help you get the job done. Start by doing your research. Who is your target audience? What are the goals of the event? Do you know the key messages? What time constraints need to be considered? Is there a budget in place to fund expenses? What type of event, if any, did your boss have in mind? These are just some of the questions that need to be answered, either by your supervisor, you or another reliable source. Don’t make the easy mistake of planning out the details for an event that wasn’t what the big gal/guy wanted.

Next it’s important to make a plan. I can’t overemphasize the value of this step. Better planning up front usually makes for a smoother process and an improved event overall. At the same time, don’t get caught in a never-ending cycle of planning meetings that produce few decisions and even less progress. Someone needs to make the call, and if you are in charge, that honor may fall to you.

I include several steps in my process of developing a plan. There might be a creative brainstorming session to identify what type of event would best fit the situation at hand. Sometimes questions arise along the way, causing the need for more research. Part of my objective at this stage is to break the big project down into smaller, more manageable parts. I also need to determine how many people, if any, I will need to pull the whole thing together. By planning on a big-picture, objective level, as well as the more focused major task level, it is easier to identify helpers who are well matched for specific roles.

Once a general concept is outlined, I usually turn to the budget. If your task is to create an event within an established budget, your work is fairly easy. Simply price the various event elements and cut accordingly until you reach the magic budget number.

If your grand extravaganza has the added burden of being a funds generator, you’ve got an entirely different animal. Determining revenue sources, identifying and selling sponsorships, and soliciting vendor donations – each can take considerable time and energy. Our agency works with several organizations, directing them on how to better structure their events and maximize their income. My advice to them is to set the monetary goals first and work backward from there. That way part of the planning can include how much income needs to be generated via each revenue stream to reach the desired goal.

Creating a realistic timeline is equally critical. Again, I work backward from the event date, and I always allow for things to take longer than expected.

If you haven’t already done so, recruit the team that will assist you in accomplishing your task. When I have the luxury, I prefer to handpick people whose interests and talents match well with the jobs assigned to them. Recruit salespeople to sell sponsorships, numbers people to develop the budget, creative folks to develop a theme, marketing mavens to get the word out, etc.

Speaking of marketing, don’t assume, just because your work and home life have been consumed by pulling this gala to-do together, that anyone else knows anything about it. All too often, I see an otherwise wonderful shindig flop due to low attendance caused by poor publicity. It’s critical to plan for the marketing from the beginning in your timeline and budget.

Some organizations, realizing the make-it or break-it aspect of event promotion, actually choose to outsource this component of the plan. Even if the entire rest of the event was coordinated in-house. I consider these very smart organizations indeed.

You don’t have to be Martha Stewart to plan a good event, and you don’t need to stay up nights with anxiety attacks either. Doing a little extra work upfront will make the entire path to D-Day easier. Research, plan and budget for your event. Develop a workable timeline, and recruit help for implementing the details. Remember to get the word out to the people who need to know. Your boss is sure to notice what a great job you did. But be warned, you may be asked to do it again next year!